Guys (and girls?),

The group I'm playing with and I have taken on a run thrown at us by our GM, and I/we could use some suggestions on how to complete it.

Group: (425BP at creation, 30Karma earned since beginning of the game)
Agent (me) - Sammy, light hacking skills. Pistols and melee man. Ex-FBI man, megacorp investigation division. Contacts: FBI, Seattle Branch; Ex-wife, megacorp secretary, Ares corp.; Fixer, well-connected but low loyalty; ID manufacturer.
Twister - Streetmage. Decent mage. No Matrix ability at all. Light combat ability.
Wolf - Rigger/Hacker. Super focused Hacker. Crappy fighting/physical skills.
Oni - Adept Face. Super focused Face, light fighting ability.

Mission:
Replace a mingvase with a replica without anyone realising it.

Target area:
High security appartment complex for very rich people. Penthouse appartment with butler. Butler might or might not be present during the run. Butler has unknown abilities. Owner is a middleage millionaire (or richer). Owner is expected to be partying elsewhere during the run. Knights Errants are responsible for the security in the building. In-house Spider/Hacker. Elemental guardians, triggers unknown. Security cams running in cooperation with pressure sensors in the floors. Alarm goes off it you have pressure activation, but no visuals of the cause. Security guards aplenty in the building. Visual inspection upon entry and cross checking of ID against inhabitant/guest list. Sentry guns on the roof. High security area. Appartment will have the building security, and (might) have additional internal security as well. There will be other parties going on in the building during the time for the intended run.
It's currently evening December 28th, and the run is scheduled to go down either during New Years Eve, or the day after. Window of opportunity remains open for 1 week after New Year.

Our hacker has managed to gain complete access to the building's matrix/computer based security, and he can get us inside the building by adding us to the guest lists. We can probably get an invitation to one of the parties in the building as well. Getting us to the penthouse should also be possible for our Hacker. We do not currently know what additional security the appartment might have inside though, and it is unlikely that we can gain access to it, without having the hacker be there in person (and he stands out in the kind of crowd that lives in that place). Our face might be able to seduce the owner.

The pay for the job is 50K per group member (200K total).

Here's the question I/we could use some suggestions on: How the HELL do we pull off this run without anyone noticing the switch has take place??? Suggestions please.

Two words: Gecko gloves.

Misdirect and multiply.

What spells does the mage possess? Silence, levitation, illusion - these should be in use here.


Right fraggin' now: Get your decker to dig up info on the other parties(People, guest lists, caters), find out who's got enemies and work out the best way to spoof their modus opprendi (spelling, I know)

-1: Shadowgames, cause a disaster or screw up the payroll of KE, spam a message stating that overtime will not be paid...heh, heh, heh...and let it be traced to somewhere in the Barrens (if you've an enemy you hate, this is fun) A massacre or bomb-threat works well as well. Take out an Areas exec car, be creative. Something Deus-flavoured if you're feeling particularly sadistic. This should cost you ~ 1k in explosives and ~ 20 bucks for the decker's energy drinks.

Dear gods: You're NOT going to seduce the mark, you're not going to be a guest, you've not going to the party, oh no. This is....dangerous.

~ 9:30 pm, Dec 31st.
0: Power-outages to the block, flickering lights (Pre-set instructions. No black out, but lights off/on a few times)
1: Have someone in catering deliver a box full of plastique to another party. (the old switcheroo.) Or an overlooked Xmas present ("Now I have a detonator, Ho, Ho, Ho")
2: Dress in KE uniforms, Hit the building with a BIG power outage, get the elementals crankry, misdirect them (Illusion, physical mask, etc..or combat, if you're feeling particularly stupid)
2a: If possible, send the street sam-type over to the Mage who set up the wards and introduce him to some chemical romance of D (physical) variety.
3: Get the Vase, replace it (need security (Devices, locks, alarms), magic (Silence, illusion/invisibility and levitate) and backup (Decker on overwatch, if possible.) You don't need the tank, the sammy, the adept (unless you really screw up) Erase background count. (If possible)
4: Get the silent hell out of dodge. Have the gunbunnies waiting patiently with the decker or in the getaway (panicked guest, if possible) vehicle
5: Have an automated message deliver itself to KE headquarters, "The time for past debts to be paid is now, death to the opressors of the heroic working class, death to the fatcats! <Insert name here> shall die as they have lived, etc, etc." Bonus props for adlibbing on your group's part here. Things like "Running dogs for the capitalistic vultures" = good times
6: Blow the party downstairs in number 42 after 10 minutes of warning.
7: Send a followup message in the same vein as the previous one, with a "Sorry, forgot the time difference thing, our bad"

8: Deliver vase and smack the living hell out of the GM who phoned this one in. Seriously...steal a Ming? It's likely to be fake anyhow.

note: these events rely on the skills of the decker (better buy a case of Red Bull) and the mage. Frankly, this should be a 2-man operation.
If you've got skills, you'd make a ton more cash and props by going out and organising your OWN work.

Tir
(You know how much 2 crates of Fairlight's sell for? Yeah, didn't think so.)

Kill the fat cat. Make it look like a contract. Nobody will think about checking the vase after that
My second idea involves explosives. Do you want to hear it ?

Seriously: how big is the vase? If you plan to use social infiltration, you need a way to get it in and out under cover. Contractors might be a better cover than guests for this job: it gives you a van and plenty of reasons to be carrying hardware. With your hacker in the system, simulating a malfunction or even provoking it should not be a problem.

Linus Caldwell: Um, all right, let's go over the list again. Ah, Swinging Priest?
Basher Tarr: Not enough people.
Linus Caldwell: Crazy Larry?
Turk Malloy: Not enough people.
Linus Caldwell: Soft shoulder?
Basher Tarr: Not enough people.
Linus Caldwell: Baker's dozen?
Basher Tarr: No woman
[pause]
Basher Tarr: and not enough people.
Turk Malloy: Hell in a Handbasket?
Linus Caldwell: [sigh] We can't train a cat that quickly
[pause]
Linus Caldwell: and...
Linus Caldwell, Basher Tarr, Turk Malloy: Not enough people.

Distract the guards with something harmless once you are in, like a couple of guests get into a preppy punch up.(mob mind influencing spells anyone?) and act when the secpeople are wondering 'what the frag just went down in the billard room?"

or, after the switch has been made, ask the host to show you his prize (now the replacement) and accidently break it. Think of Sean Connery in the 3rd Indiana Jones film "It's a fake." "You prize is a fake" Who sold it to you?" who knows play it right and you might get a run to beat up (or worse) a perfectly innocent (ha) art dealer.

Steal something else.

Draw their attention away from the ming vase. You said you can get up there right? Enough to turn off security cameras and drones and so on? A big enough distraction for another item will be enough for one of your teammates to make the swap.

Ideally, you can hire NPC shadowrunners to do the distract-job for you. Make your Johnson pay for it.

What is the size of the vase ? Have a a carefully padded, armored case to bring the replica in and the original out. It would be really nasty for your GM to make the carrier trip in the stairs and drop the vase after a perfect run...

An idea, don't know if it could work, and it has the drawback of requiring several penetration of the target area.
Step one : plant a cockroach infestation in the appartment, ideally a fex days before the owner met someone important there - he will want to have something done FAST.
Step two : intercept the call to the exterminators, either to replace them or to know the time of intervention so you can intercept and replace them
Step three : come in disguised as the exterminators, perform the substitution using the de-cockroaching as a cover (plus magic/hacking as necessary). Don"t forget to clean up your traces (astral, matrix).

Is there a big event going on? E.g. a New Years Eve party? If so, here's my ideas:

Three ideas:

1) I am a fan of the simplest/most direct route - go after the butler. Bribe him. Threaten him. Extort him. Use spells or Laes to wipe his mind after the event. First up you need to track/monitor him for a bit. Does he have friends/family you can get to? Any debts? Bad habits? Things he'd like to forget? Can you frame him for something his employer would find unsavory? It doesn't have to last, he just have to believe you have leverage on him and you can wipe his mind after the fact. Just make sure he can get you in.

2) I'd try and see if you can infiltrate as the help. E.g. catering crew for a NYE event. cleaning crew, DJs, etc. So long as it is SOMEONE who won't look suspicious carrying cases. This disguise only needs to be sufficient to gain access to the building grounds. From there you can probably find a way to steal the vase without too much suspicion. I like the gecko gloves idea.

3) If it all looks hopeless, consider deliberately tripping the alarms REPEATEDLY. E.g. Catering disturbing the wrong room, DJ playing music at too high volume disturbing seismic/pressure pads, drunken mages casually summoning a spirit and sending it flying all around the building to "impress the chicks". This might force the security to either disable the alarms (or one or two of them) making it possible to bypass that method. If nothing else, security will become complacent amoung the myriad of false positives it will become almost impossible to tell which alarms are "real". Even if KE are already on high alert, thinking someone may try something that evening, they certainly won't know what for sure. And lets face it, anything is possible on New Years Eve.

4) You could also hire a gang to crash the event, start some shit. They will act as a diversion for your team - taking heat while you make a getaway. Just drop some rumors on the street that someone has a line on some novacoke or better yet tempo at that party and plans on breaking it out for the special occasion.

- J.

Prepare a Plan B: If you get spotted and take care of someone (like the guards) - aka a distraction from the real target:
- If you're caught on the floor, plan a fake robbery in another appartment (that's bonus for you anyway)
- If you're caught in the target's appartment, plan a fake robbery inside that appartment, and away from the vase

Try to find a likely other target in the building through your contact. Could be useful for that Plan B.

Definately the butler, a familiar face, a fresh datajack and a personafix-chip is all it takes. Have him make arrangements for moving out the vase for a restoration/cleaning/insert whatever and return the fake after about a week's time.

1) Have your Sammy pull some fake FBI badges since he already knows the background of FBI protocol.
2) Have Oni in the party
3) Have Twister with your Sammy
4) Have the Wolf sneak in with Oni's help and overtly attempt to break into the apartment...you want him caught.
5) Have your Sammy and Twister approach the party prior to the overt break in by Wolf and inform the security they have been surveying a suspected criminal for an FBI sting operation and have tracked him to this location, and that they need access to obtain the criminal.

The Knight's will let you in with them and want to walk everywhere you go and push your buttons to make sure you're FBI, just make sure that any number they dial (have Wolf set it up ahead of time) goes to your contact buddy in the FBI (who you will pay a nice pack of money to say that you are still FBI and this case is legit).

Then while you are talking with the hesitant Knight's near the entrance (or if they let you in the timing would be as you are "searching" for your perp) Wolfy upstairs (after Oni is in the clear [translate to in position nearby but hiding]) causes the break-in to the apartment area and tosses a couple smoke grenades.

As this occurs, you folks downstairs with Knight's, run up to the apartment to the commotion.

As you are moving up, Wolf has the fake vase and swaps it out with the real vase, and then knocks the fake vase over smashing it.
Smash a couple of other things as well, and then head to the computer in the apartment and pretend to be after the HDD info.

Wait...how does Wolf get in without anyone noticing that he's carrying a vase the entire time?
Back a moment up where I said he knocks the fake vase over...right...that's the impression that will be created, but the reality is you'll bring the vase pre-broken in a bag and just scatter that onto the floor.


Now, since you stressed that you need this hacker alive because it leads to the real sleeper cell leader potentially, you'll have brought some stun guns with you.
And you will shoot as fast as you can to stun your hacker before Knight's opens fire.


After that, you'll have some face work to do for a bit with Knight's, but you'll want to eventually haul Wolf off to your FBI vehicle quickly under the reasoning that if you do not get him moving soon that a serious risk to his life will be prevalent because the FBI isn't the only organization after him.

Call your contact at the FBI after you leave and have him call LoneStar local and get them out there.
(This is so it's not odd that two FBI agents showed up and then left...if cops show up, then people stop thinking where the FBI went...they assume they handed it over to the cops, and when asked, the cops will say the FBI called them.)

While the commotion is going on, have Oni split.


Now...where's the vace?

Wolf, after smoking out the apartment and it's access way, placed it outside of the apartment behind a plant, or bench, etc...
Then Oni, waiting for his moment while all Knights are running in with you to get this hacker, grabs that vace and puts that in a bag that's had the classic science class treatment of, "How to drop an egg from two stories without breaking it", fittings and tosses that outside in a location easy to pick up outside.

Hell, even use a zip line if you want to get precise...just take it down afterwards.


Then when Oni leaves, have him pick up the bag and head off and meet up later with everyone else.



Oni is the only person actually stealing the vase.
Wolf is the loader.
And the other two of you are the distraction and control points.




And that, or something close to it, should get the job done.
No one will probably notice the vase is missing because the vase, along with many other things in there, will be broken and counted in an Insurance coverage plan that will have already appraised the vase when it was the real vase and just work from file...that's how that works.

The owner will get insurance compensation and you will have your vase.
No one will strongly think about the vase because why would a hacker be after a vase than a computer when the FBI is telling you he's in the building and affiliated with a sleeper cell?

And you should be in the clear.

Here's my 0.02 .

1: Technical security is awesome. Except for the fact that it is all coordinated through the matrix... which your hacker has locked down. Suddenly pressure pads, security cams, and sentry guns seem alot less threatning.

2: Magical security might be a problem. If this guy regularly has people in his home then those patrolling elementals have to have very specific triggers. During the actual penetration I would have the mage astral and ready to lockdown the elementals.

Here's my plan. Since this guy is out of town I am guessing that there is no party in his pad. I would have the stealthiest member, preferably in a chameleon suit, parachute/rappel/grapple gun to the roof. Since the hacker has the sec system hijacked the sentry guns shouldn't be a problem. Since this place is a high class penthouse it probably has a balcony. Drop down to the balcony from the roof and get a good look inside. There may or may not be cameras inside the penthouse, if there are the hacker can let the specialist know when the butler is in another part of the building. That is when the specialist should break in. There might be some security on the balcony door, but no shadowrunner worth his salt is gonna be stopped by a maglock. Now depending on the circumstances, (e.g. where the butler is, if he is awake or not, ect) you may have to disable the butler. I suggest laes. Drug him, administer laes, spill some extremely expensive hooch from the wet bar on him, put a glass with a little alcohol in it in/spilt near his hand, and for good measure partially stuff a thong down the front of his jacket. Muss his hair and clothes. Leave him in the middle of the living room near the wet bar. Now swap the vases, go back to the balcony (if the butler is KO-ed then leave the door open, otherwise close and lock it), and climb to the roof. The vase should be in a sturdy padded case. Now BASE jump off the roof and link up with the extraction. The hacker now has to clean his tracks. If the butler had to be disabled then and there were security cameras in the room he was laid up in then the hacker needs to crash the cameras, corrupt the logs for the last several hours and plant a virus in the system. The virus needs to look like something a hacker gang likes to use as a prank. If all goes well there shouldn't be much investigation, if any. If all doesn't go well... that's shadowrunning for you. Stay flexible and use your head.

Champagne bottles, high grade explosives, afternoon deliveries to about a dozen different residents. Crash the building's node, snatch the real vase, plant the fake one, boom the bottles from down the block. Make sure to send out messages to all your favorite news programs about meta rights or some crap about dolphin safe tuna.

Most problems can be solved with explosives.

Interesting ideas people Much appreciated.

I agree that the optimal solution would be that simply to bribe the butler. Unfortunately, I don't think that our GM will let us have 50K per head that easily (unless we end up having to pay the butler something like 160k or something, in order to play ball...). With some Laès that approach will probably get a try though.

The FBI approach might work, but I'm a little concerned that if someone starts looking even a bit closer at the incident, it'll inspire someone to check the broken fake vase. Another concern would be that we don't currently know the exact position of the vase within the appartment, and if it's not in a position where it might realistically get broken during the incident, then the plan begins to fall appart. I very much appreciate the detailed breakdown of the plan Stumps. Super cool

We've considdered the diversion approach, as well as stealing something else, but again. If people know that they've had a break in, and that stuff's been stolen, I'm fairly certain that they'll check if their genuine Ming vase still appears to be the real deal. Causing something to happen somewhere else in the building, in order to draw the attention of the building security might be worth looking a little closer at.

Anyone else with suggestions?

Does the butler have DocWagon? If so, con the building into thinking you're DocWagon, stunbolt the butler, swap the vase, revive the butler, and call it a day.